MOVIE NEWS – Just some days after having a heart attack on an international flight from London to Los Angeles, the Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher has passed away. Billie Lourd, the actress’ daughter, who played alongside her mother in 2016’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, confirmed the sad news in a very brief statement.

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning, She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers,” told the press the late actress’ daughter.

This statement was sent to People.com earlier today, which is actually a just a day after the actress was apparently in stable condition following the December 23 heart attack. The heart attack happened just 15 minutes before the plane landed at the Los Angeles International Airport, where paramedics hurried her to a local hospital. On late Friday, the actress’ brother Todd Fisher revealed that his sister was on a ventilator in an intensive care unit of the UCLA Medical Center.

The 60-year-old Carrie Fisher had cardiac arrest mid-flight while returning to Los Angeles from England, where she was on a book tour for her latest biography The Princess Diarist. It was believed that Fisher’s health had greatly improved over the three-day weekend. The UCLA Medical Center where Fisher was hospitalized have not offered a public announcement about her passing.

Although she played in plenty of iconic and cult favorite movies, like The Blues Brothers and The Burbs, Carrie Fisher is of course best known for playing Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy. The space saga catapulted her to worldwide stardom, and with the recent return of the franchise courtesy of Disney, she and her character have been more popular than ever.

Over the Holiday weekend, co-star Mark Hamill celebrated his on-screen ‘twin sister’ sharing photos of the two with the hashtag #CarrieChristmas. He posted this message for the world to see, which many felt was sweet and fun.

“Dear Santa — all I want for X-mas is for the Force to be strong with this one.”

Harrison Ford replied to the news on Saturday, Christmas Eve, telling that he was ‘shocked and saddened’ to hear the news about his ‘dear friend’. Other members of the Star Wars movie franchise have also responded in kind to send Fisher well wishes over the Christmas break. Fisher had just finished filming the third season of her latest project, the Amazon Comedy TV series Catastrophe, set in London, while also going to various book stores and other UK locations to promote her book.

She most recently made headlines when she revealed the fact that she a brief but intense love affair way back in 1976 on the set of the original Star Wars with Harrison Ford, aka Han Solo. It was a much talked about topic of discussion as Fisher launched her book tour. Carrie Fisher will next be seen on the big screen in Star Wars 8 when it hits theaters this time next year, returning once again to reprise her role as General Leia.